Miniature Quilts

General advice
The Quilts

Paper Piecing:
Friendship Party
Twilight in Paradise
Little Beauty
School House & Ivy
Navigator

'Pineapple Paper Piecing':
I Am Still Sane
Pineapple Patch
Night Cruise on the River Thames

Panels without Blocks:
After Hurricane Ike
Sweet Heart III

Mariner's Compass:
Bouquets with Tudor Rose
Mission: Impossible 2
Mission: Impeccable

Trapunto with Shading:
Blue like a Wedgwood
Dragon's Feather

About Kumiko Frydl

Kumiko was born and grew up in Tokyo. She studied merchandising and interior décor at a Japanese art college, while also learning to sew. She then lived in Canada and Great Britain before settling in Houston, Texas.

Kumiko really does have more than one string to her bow! She has always had a keen interest in exploring the cultures and architectures of the countries that she visits, and is permanently expanding her field of vision, by applying the new techniques that she acquires not only to patchwork, but to quilted clothing and bobbin lace and to making dolls.

Kumiko would be the first to admit that her house is something of a curiosity cabinet! She displays her work there which also includes very sophisticated boxes decorated with postcards from England. Each of her miniature quilts is framed in relief on a darker background, bringing out the full beauty of the work.

Kumiko has lost count of the number of prizes she has won since 1988, as she is awarded one almost every time she enters a competition. Despite this well-deserved success, she does not take herself too seriously and sometimes wonders how she has managed to create such work: this is demonstrated in the titles she gives her quilts: ‘I am Still Sane’ and ‘Mission: Impossible’.

Customer review

A lovely book with amazing miniature quilts. Probably not for beginners but, with helpful tips and techniques at the beginning of the book, those who have done some Foundation Paper Piecing will pick up the fiddly technique. So far, I have worked on Twilight in Paradise, the second pattern in the book, and have found the instructions easy to follow. I am looking forward to making the Navigator quilt and hopefully designing my own miniatures.

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Customer review

Although not for a beginner quilter, once you go through the book, you are hooked and want to progress and better yourself. l think as a first miniature quilt the "After Hurricane Ike" is probably one to try. Then the School House one. This is one l want to do for my daughter's Doll's House she has. It is a most beautiful book and the pictures and information inside are just a joy to read. l got this book at the weekend and have been going through it since. Hubby made tea so l did not have to put it down inbetween Ooohs and Aaahs. l love how you learn a little about the author as well. The general advice and techniques are also very helpful and is the use of different blocks/sewing/threads etc are a must for all who quilt. Often you grab the nearest you have. To use the best enhances your quilts. You look at each quilt and think can l? Well yes, l think you can with the help given in this book. l also think with knowledge gained making the small quilts you would be able to make them larger as well. l also love how the embroidery that is on the quilts is shown in great detail. The end of the book brings you a gift of patterns for the quilt. Well done to the author. Never will l be afraid again of making a basic quilt, when l have this book to guide me and encourage me to further my capabilities.

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Customer review

First off this book is amazing. There are 15 beautiful projects ranging from basic to hard to ease you into it. At the start of the book are a range of techniques you'll use while completing these miniature quilts. These are all laid out thoroughly so you can understand them, a lot of care has been taken to give you a good idea of what you need to do, as well as what supplies work well. For each project, the materials are set out at the start, including what techniques are needed for this particular design, with references to the pages the techniques can be found on in case you need a refresh on what to do. Each section of the quilt is then thoughtfully laid out, piece by piece to enabling you to finish the design, including techniques specific to that design, which aren't set out in the techniques section at the start. At the back of the book is a pull-out sheet with all the templates for the projects printed to scale. I imagine if you wanted to, you could make the quilts bigger by adjusting the sizes and printing out the templates enlarged to the correct specifications, but personally, I prefer them as miniature. Overall I have loved this book, it has everything you need in it to give you a good idea on how to start, all you need are the materials. Would be perfect for any quilting enthusiast, and the designs are simply stunning. I would definitely recommend this book.

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Customer review

Great read, lots of good tips on designs and includes useful design template. I'm new to quilting, and I'm going have a try after looking at this book. Some lovely ideas.

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Customer review

I have been a quilter for over 20 years but i have never tried miniature quilts, however i have used paper piecing on a larger scale. This is an amazing inspiring book, but not for the faint-hearted. A pineapple block 2 inches square forms part of one quilt and another is called Mission Impossible with a complex Mariner's Compass measuring, when complete, 5.5 inches with 128 points. I will with confidence manage After Hurricane Ike, I hope to challenge myself with a more complex quilt. I would love to see Kumiko Frydl's work at a quilt show, i think it would blow you away with her skill.

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Customer review

I was sent this book to review, but wow I'm impressed the quilts are gorgeous. This book is not for a beginner, some of the techniques are advanced even if the patterns were full-sized, which they are not, these quilts are small. Yes I know that it is a book of miniature quilts but often miniature quilts are lap quilt sized; the largest quilt is 24" and the smallest is 9". The patterns seem clear and a separate full-sized pattern sheet is included in a flap on the back cover, useful to keep the photocopies or tracings that you are going to need to make. The quilts are so very beautiful and intricate I can't wait to try make one, perhaps the school house and then work up to a mini Mariners compass. But there are examples of mini wholecloths and a seascape too. I'm sure that after making a couple of the projects that you would be bursting with mini ideas.

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Customer review

This books has some stunning projects contained inside complete with patterns for embroidery and templates for paper piecing. I don't feel that this this book is really aimed at beginners as a lot of the pieces are very small so would be fiddly for a beginner quilter. I can imagine the end results will be stunning if you have the patience to work in such minute detail. I do wonder if the project templates could be scaled up but then that would defeat the object of the miniature element of the projects.

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Postcard Reviews

This book is for the experienced quilter. The designs are absolutely stunning and very inspiring.

The finished quilts are small, so you are not wasting much time and fabric if you do go wrong, but what is amazing about these tiny creations is the beauty of the designs that clearly makes you want to make one.

The explanations are easy to follow, but the techniques and additional decoration call for some embroidery skills, appliqué and a knowledge of free-motion sewing.

There are some pattern sheets included, and while each design is meant to be a mini quilt, I think a few blocks together would make one stunning larger throw.

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Customer Review

What can l say, l was in awe of this book. Have wanted to purchase for a while.

You look at each quilt and think can l? Well yes l think you can with the help given in this book. l also think with knowledge gained making the small quilts you would be able to make them larger as well. 

l also love how the embroidery that is on the quilts is shown in great detail. 

Well done to the author. Never will l be afraid again of making a basic quilt, when l have this book to guide me and encourage me to further my capabilities.